Eagle Hills, an Abu Dhabi-based property company in which the Emaar chairman Mohamed Alabbar is a board member, has started developing a vast site in the Serbian capital of Belgrade that will be home to the biggest mall in the Balkans.
Off-plan apartments in the first housing blocks to be developed at the Belgrade Waterfront site went on sale on Saturday.
The project, which is being developed by Eagle Hills with the support of the Serbian government includes a 140,000 square metre shopping mall; 5,700 homes to accommodate 14,000 people, eight hotels comprising a total of 2,200 rooms and a tower 200 metres in height.
With a development value of US$3 billion, it will take as long as 30 years to complete.
“This innovative project is the first step in defining our vision for the future and defining Serbia’s path towards progress and development, becoming a modern-day country,” said the Serbian prime minister Aleksandar Vucic.
Last week the hotel chain Starwood Hotels and Resorts said it had signed an agreement with Belgrade Waterfront to operate the first W Hotel in Serbia in the mega-project.
Eagle Hills will own 68 per cent of the multibillion euro project, while the Serbian government will own the remaining 32 per cent.
Last year Eagle Hills merged with Al Maabar, a joint venture company founded by Abu Dhabi’s largest developers in 2007 to develop large-scale real estate projects in the region, as well as in Europe and North Africa.
lbarnard@thenational.ae
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